Guiyang city and Guian New Area in Southwest China's Guizhou province have been selected as pilot areas for service trade innovation and development, according to a notice recently released by the Ministry of Justice.
The pilot areas must explore cooperation between local law firms and law firms in Hong Kong and Macao. The intention is for law firms co-run by the pilot areas and Hong Kong or Macao to designate lawyers from the Chinese mainland to handle administrative litigation-related legal affairs and hire lawyers from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.
The pilot areas can encourage qualified Chinese law firms to hire foreign lawyers as legal counsels. These foreign lawyers are exempt from a minimum of three years of legal work experience outside China.
Well-known foreign arbitral and dispute settlement agencies are allowed to set up offices in the pilot areas and carry out arbitral business for international investment and trade, guaranteeing individuals' property, evidence and behavior preservation before and during the arbitration.
All the pilot areas can draft plans to enhance service trade innovation according to their local conditions and follow the examples in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong. These areas can begin implementation after approval by the Ministry of Justice.
